Positive Steps

Our Positive Steps workshops are designed to

• Encourage young people to think positively about their life with and beyond their illness
• Set realistic goals to increase motivation
• Develop skills such as team work, public speaking, conflict resolution and active listening
• Gain an insight in to the business world and gain genuine work experience
• Rebuild confidence and motivation to return to education or employment and plan for a future beyond cancer

Since our last report, we have invited 20 young people to embrace their entrepreneurial skills and work collaboratively to develop a new, unique t-shirt design for Teens Unite. The young people were split in to four teams and assigned a business mentor who worked with them to not only create a new design, but to plan the launch and promotion of their t-shirt too. We took along a garment printer so that the teams could see their ideas come to life, and so that they could follow the whole design process.

We briefed the young people that we wanted to see creativity, innovation and unique designs that we could put before retailers to sell raising funds for and awareness of the Charity.

We were joined by business mentors from a private Charitable Trust, the UK’s biggest online shopping platform, one of the UK’s most popular High-End department stores and an international business consultant.

The young people were also supported by a group of designers from several UK businesses who all demonstrated a passion for creativity, imagination, design and inspired marketing. The designers were available to the young people throughout the day and supported them in creating their final design as well as their marketing material to create a product launch for their t-shirt.

Each of the teams were asked to create a business plan and to showcase their ideas in a ten-minute presentation to the Judges at the end of the day. Every member of the team was asked to take part in the presentation which was to be a real opportunity for them to “sell” their design idea to the Judges, share their design concept and their plans to market and launch their product.

After a spending time in the morning completing their business plans which ensured they created a cohesive vision for their teams, which they would then use to confidently communicate to the Judges, they demonstrated that they had considered their target audience, planned their launch and added their ideas for a marketing strategy, they then got down to the creative business and actually bought their design ideas to life.

After a busy morning, the young people headed for a delicious lunch, coming together with the Judges, who had been walking round and silently observing the groups, seeing the various skills demonstrated. Lunch was the perfect opportunity for an informal chat and for the Judges to familiarise themselves with the young people.

Lunch over, the teams finalised their designs and worked on their presentations ready for them to deliver later in the afternoon. The Judges, who came from different business areas, including independent boutiques and market leading financial service groups, were seated and ready to enjoy the presentations, marking the teams against a set of agreed criteria.

After each presentation, the Judges had some questions for the young people, and their responses helped them to select not just an overall winner, but some individuals whose performance was notable. The individual recognition covered, Best Leadership, Best Team Player, Best Presentation, Best Organisational Skills, Most Creative, and the Best Entrepreneurial Skills.

 After a long day, which saw four teams produce some amazing designs, all of which were worthy of recognition, the young people headed off to a Celebratory Dinner, taking time to get dressed up, and have their make-up done by some professional make up artists who kindly volunteered their time.

At the dinner, the overall winners were announced, and the individual recognition awards were presented. It was a fantastic evening where the young people celebrated their own and each other’s success, genuinely happy for their new friends whose achievements were recognised.

To everyone who has supported the Positive Steps program, sincere thanks from everyone at Teens Unite. 74% of young people diagnosed with cancer are worried about the impact that cancer will have on their future employment. Workshops like this help to provide the confidence to look for a future beyond illness, providing an excellent opportunity to work with and learn from the best in business.